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pe·o·ny

(pēə-nē)

n. pl. pe·o·nies

Any of various garden plants of the genus Paeonia, having large, variously colored flowers with numerous stamens and several pistils.

[Middle English pione, from Old English pēonie and Anglo-Norman peonie, both from Medieval Latin peōnia, from Latin paeōnia, from Greek paiōniā, perhaps from Paiōn, Apollo, physician of the gods.]

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peony

tree peony

Paeonia suffruticosa

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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